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Teen in trouble for social media post

Published by admin on Tue, 03/06/2018 - 7:52pm

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STAFF REPORT

A 13-year-old Coal City male has been charged with disorderly conduct for what police called an alarming social media post.
A juvenile warrant was issued over the weekend and Coal City Police took the teen into custody on the afternoon of Sunday, March 4. He is currently being held in Will County's River Valley Juvenile Detention Center.
The Coal City Police Department received information from Coal City School District administration on the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 28, regarding a post made by a juvenile on the social media platform, Snapchat.
As a result, there was an increased law enforcement presence throughout the district.
Coal City Police Sgt. Tom Logan, the department's public information officer, said once made aware of the incident, officers worked expeditiously to investigate the complaint that was brought to light by a student who saw the social media post the previous evening.
The juvenile posted a photograph of a broken black air soft gun with a caption. The post has since been deleted and police took possession of the air soft gun.
“The caption that was written with this post never made any direct threats to the public, the school district, or any individual person or persons,” Logan said.
Through the work of school resource officer and investigator Jason Clark, with assistance from Logan and others within the department, the juvenile was identified and questioned by police.
Logan reported the teen and his family were cooperating with law enforcement.
Coal City Police investigated the incident in collaboration with the Grundy County State's Attorney's Office.
“The Coal City Police Department wishes to reiterate to the public that there is no current threat to the public,” Logan said. “Communication continues to be our greatest tool in preventing acts of violence within our community. Although (this) incident was deemed not related to the school it is everyone's responsibility to report suspicious or concerning situations or communications.”
Due to his age, the juvenile's name is not being released.